News Articles

Philippine rebels agree to stop fielding child soldiers, UN Official says

United Nations News Centre, New York; 12 December 2008
An Islamic rebel group in the Philippines will stop recruiting child soldiers and return to civilian life those already in their ranks, according to an action plan announced by a United Nations official who wrapped up a five-day mission in the country today.

New law prevents U.S tax Dollars from funding use of child soldiers abroad

Media Release, World Vision US, Washington; 10 December 2008
Today, Congress passed a bill that restricts U.S. funding that fuels one of the world’s most brutal forms of child exploitation.

Slavery, tough legally abolished, remains widespread in current forms, UN Reports

United Nations News Centre, New York; 9 December 2008
Slavery may have been legally abolished around the world, but it remains “a widespread and deeply rooted component of contemporary life,” ranging from human trafficking to child labour to sexual servitude to bonded service, according to the first-ever comparative analysis published by the United Nations.

Trafficked, then left waiting by the roadside

Natalie O'Brien, The Australian, National; 6 December 2008
WHAT happened to Susie is any woman's worst nightmare: she was allegedly locked in a room and raped by several men during the course of a night. Six years later she still wakes up screaming.

Ban warns that financial crisis could drive more people into slavery-like conditions

United Nations News Centre, New York; 2 December 2008
West Africa's regional Court of Justice convicted the state of Niger on Monday of failing to protect a 12-year-old girl from being sold into slavery, in what campaigners hailed as a victory for human rights.

UN-backed forum urges comprehensive strategy to fight sexual exploitation of children

United Nations News Centre, New York; 28 November 2008
A United Nations-backed summit to combat the sexual exploitation of children today called for a comprehensive strategy comprising laws, policies, regulations and services across all social sectors as well as a shift in social attitudes and practices, such as child marriage.

Youth won’t have a bar of chocs-spolitation

By Sarah Parkes, Canberra Times; 27 November 2008
A group of about 150 young people, involved with World Vision's youth movement Vision Generation, has arrived in Canberra to raise awareness about child labour used in the production of chocolate eaten by Australians.

UN-backed congress in Brazil targets rising sexual exploitation of children

United Nations News Centre, New York; 25 November 2008
Nearly 3,000 participants from over 125 countries have gathered in Rio de Janeiro today for a three-day United Nations-backed congress to combat the increasing scourge of sexual exploitation of children and adolescents in all its dimensions, ranging from of trafficking, pornography and prostitution to rape and abuse.

West African court convicts Niger in slavery case

By Abdoulaye Massalatchi, Niamey, Niger; Reuters; 27 October 2008
West Africa's regional Court of Justice convicted the state of Niger on Monday of failing to protect a 12-year-old girl from being sold into slavery, in what campaigners hailed as a victory for human rights.

Commonwealth Funding to Combat People Trafficking

The Hon. Bob Debus, Media Release; 23 October 2008
The Minister for Home Affairs Bob Debus has announced $1 million in funding to help four Australian non-government organisations (NGOs) in their efforts to combat people trafficking.

Ivory Coast cocoa corruption probe begins questioning of ministers

AFP (Abidjan); 20 October 2008
The first of five ministers set to testify as part of a wider corruption investigation in the Ivory Coast's key cocoa sector appeared in court on Monday.

How Kenyans Are Sold Into Slavery

By Ken Opala, The Nation (Nairobi); 5 October 2008
Thousands of Kenyans are being driven into modern slavery abroad in their desperate attempts to escape from worsening economic conditions at home.

Ex-sex slave crusades against forced prostitution

By Gary Crosse, Reuters; 28 September 2008
NEW YORK, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Abandoned as a child in Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge's murderous reign, Somaly Mam has no memory of her family and doesn't know her true age or name. But she recalls when she was sold to a brothel.

Sex slave convictions upheld

AAP, National; 28 August 2008
The High Court has upheld the convictions of a Melbourne brothel owner who became the first person found guilty of possessing and using sex slaves in Australia.

Top UN official calls for greater effort to end contemporary forms of slavery

United Nations, New York; 23 August 2008
Marking the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, Cultural Organization (UNESCO) chief today appealed to Member States to renew efforts to end all forms of oppression.

Efforts to curb child exploitation must be stepped up, says un-backed group

United Nations, New York; 20 August 2008
Further measures are necessary to curb child exploitation across East Asia and the Pacific, despite the recent positive steps taken to tackle the issue in the region, a United Nations-backed gathering said today.

Drawing lines in a dark place

The Economist print edition; 14 August 2008
Coercing hapless human beings into sex or servitude is obviously evil, but defining the problem (let alone solving it) is very hard.

Sweet slavery

By Kerrie Murphy, The Australian; 9 August 2008
We may be able to scoff chocolate faster than is dignified, but few of us could identify a cocoa bean if we saw one. For all we know about chocolate production, the fantasy world depicted in Roald Dahl's novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory could be an accurate portrait.

Not for Sale

By Elizabeth George, Sydney Anglican Network; 7 August 2008
Not For Sale by David Batsone aims to give general information about the global slave trade. Batsone is professor of Ethics at San Francisco University and executive editor of Sojourners magazine.

Chief Federal Magistrate Pascoe delivers speech on trafficking unborn children (PDF: 57 KB)

Federal Magistrates Court of Australia; 4 August 2008

International Conference on Child Labour and Child Exploitation

The Hon Robert McClelland MP, Speech at conference; 3 August 2008
It’s a great pleasure to join you this morning, to speak on behalf of the Australian Government. The Rudd Government places a top priority on the rights of children – protecting them, caring for them and giving them every opportunity we can to lead a safe and happy life...

The modern face of slavery

By Kathleen Maltzahn, ABC News; 28 July 2008
We should not look for shackles, but rather at the impact of the slave traders, at their power to reduce a person to a commodity.

New report released on people trafficking

Media Release, The Hon Tanya Plibersek MP, Minister for Housing and Minister for the Status of Women; 27 July 2008
The Minister for the Status of Women has released a report that confirms that the Government is clamping down on people trafficking.

Much ado about a small segment of the global sex industry

By Michael Duffy, Sydney; Sydney Morning Herald; 14 June 2008
A problem that has captured the imagination of our time is the international trafficking of women for sex. It's on the increase because of globalisation, and has become a presence in popular culture.

Fiji immigration director angered over trafficking report

ABC Radio, National; 13 June 2008
Fiji's immigration director, Viliame Naupoto, has criticised a US report condemning the county's supposed inaction on human trafficking, sex trade and forced labour.

Thai efforts to combat human trafficking recognised

ABC Radio, National; 9 June 2008
Efforts in Thailand and Cambodia to combat human trafficking has been recognised in the US State Department's Trafficking in Persons Report released this week.

Working flat out - the child labour behind your Egyptian cotton sheets

By Dan McDougall, United Kingdom; The Guardian; 8 June 2008
They work 10-hour shifts in 40C heat for 20 pence a day. Their job? Picking the cotton that makes the world's finest bed linen. Dan McDougall reports on the scandal of Egypt's child labourers.

Fiji, PNG added to people trafficking list

ABC, Radio Australia, National; 6 June 2008
Fiji and Papua New Guinea have been added to a United States blacklist of countries trafficking in people.

Thailand introduces law to target human trafficking

ABC News, National; 5 June 2008 8:12pm AEST
Thailand is introducing a new law today that aims to strengthen protection for victims of human trafficking.

US Human Trafficking Report Faults Gulf Allies

By David Gollust, Washington, VOA News; 4 June 2008
The State Department's annual report on human trafficking, issued Wednesday, gave the lowest rankings to some U.S. Arab allies, including Saudi Arabia. But several countries were credited with an improved performance on the issue, including Venezuela, Malaysia and Madagascar. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.

Ashley Judd speaks at UN against human trafficking

The Associated Press, 4 June 2008
Ashley Judd says she decided to lend her voice against human trafficking after she "stumbled upon" the issue while visiting brothels, slums, hospices and other clinics in 12 nations to promote public health.

Words must be put into action to fight human trafficking – Assembly President

United Nations, New York, 3 June 2008
Global and regional pacts must be put into action if the world is to tackle the scourge of human trafficking, a $32 billion annual industry, General Assembly President Srgjan Kerim said today in New York.

A question of bondage

By Dr Anne Gallagher, Melbourne; The Age, 15 May 2008
What does it mean to be a slave in the 21st century? A court case in Australia is seeking to define the legalities of "owning" another human being, writes Anne Gallagher.

Radiohead takes on sweatshops

The Western Australian, 1 May 2008
Pioneering British rock band Radiohead has lent one of its songs to an MTV campaign to raise awareness about sweatshop labour and human trafficking.

Slave children traded 'like cabbages' in China

By Richard Spencer, Melbourne; The Age, 1 May 2008
Thousands of children are being sold "like cabbages" to China's booming factories as virtual slave labour.

Radiohead launches anti-trafficking video

The Age, Melbourne, 1 May 2008
British band Radiohead are releasing a video that aims to raise awareness of human trafficking, lead singer Thom Yorke says.

Organ trade to cost foreigners 20 years in jail

Brisbane Times, Brisbane, 1 May 2008
MANILA: The Philippines is banning kidney transplants for foreigners from next month as part of a crackdown on a growing but illicit trade in human organs bought from the poor.

Thailand tackles human trafficking problem

ABC Radio Australia, 30 April 2008
Thailand has adopted new guidelines to combat the increasing problem of human trafficking in the kingdom, where 54 Burmese migrant workers suffocated to death on a truck in April.

US official decries Asian shrimp industry 'slavery'

ABC News, National, 24 April 2008
Abuses of shrimp industry workers in Thailand and Bangladesh constitute "modern-day slavery," a US official said after a labour group documented poor conditions in those global suppliers.

Police Search for Driver of Thai Truck

By Darren Schuettler, New York; The New York Times, 13 April 2008
SUKSAMRAN, Thailand (Reuters) - Survivors of a human smuggling tragedy in Thailand, in which 54 people suffocated in a locked container truck, will be deported back to army-ruled Myanmar...

Australia urged to lead anti-slavery campaign

ABC, Radio Australia, 11 April 2008
An American anti-slavery campaigner says Australia should be leading the world in the fight against the problem.

Death truck survivors face deportation

By Nopporn Wong-Anan, Thailand; The Australian, 11 April 2008
Survivors of a human smuggling tragedy in Thailand, in which 54 people suffocated in a locked container truck, will be deported back to army-ruled Myanmar, a Thai court has ruled.

Child Labour

By Megha Bahree; Forbes, 10 April 2008
That garden stone, handmade carpet or embroidered T shirt bought by global shoppers was probably made by Child Labor...

MP’s move against child slavery

The Advertiser, Adelaide, 9 April 2008
Chocolate made using child slavery will be banished from Parliament under a plan by South Australian MP Christopher Pyne.

Campaigner puts slavery in focus

The Age, Melbourne, 9 April 2008
Millions of people are still trapped in slavery around the world because businesses are unaware of forced labour in their own supply chains, according to a visiting anti-slavery campaigner.

The Dark Side of Chocolate

The World Today, ABC, National, 4 April 2008
Every day thousands of Australians enjoy the sweet taste of a chocolate bar. But it's 'bittersweet' - according to World Vision Australia.

Easter chocolate’s dark side

By Joeseph Smith, Sydney; Sydney Anglican Network, 21 March 2008
Chocolate is a luxury that adds to our waistline and often makes us feel guilty. Yet if people knew about the exploitation and dangers kids in the cocoa fields are forced to endure, chocolate would also make them feel sick.

Slavery and exploitation in cocoa trade

By Tim Costello, Brisbane; Courier Mail, 19 March 2008
It is almost unthinkable to have Easter without Easter eggs. This year we will spend more than $200 million on them.

'Sex slaves rescued' from Sydney brothels

ABC News, Melbourne, 7 March 2008
Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the Immigration Department say they have cracked a $3 million-a-year sex trafficking syndicate operating in Sydney brothels.

British pastor appointed UN special advisor

By Eron Henry and Neville Callam, Washington; Baptist World Alliance, 25 February 2008
Steve Chalke, a Baptist pastor from Britain, has been appointed special advisor to the United Nation's Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking (UN.GIFT).

Film, pop stars headline UN anti-human trafficking campaign

By Simon Morgan, Vienna; Daily News Egypt, 13 Febraury 2008
British actress Emma Thompson, Latino pop star Ricky Martin and Egypt's First Lady Suzanne Mubarak lent their names to an international campaign against human trafficking Wednesday.

Guinea: Children exploited, abandoned, sold into slavery

Conakry; IRIN, 7 February 2008
After the sun sets on the streets of the Guinean capital, Conakry, children drift by darkened storefronts and settle into nooks between buildings, curling up to sleep on the pavement.

Chocolate's bittersweet economy: Seven years after the industry agreed to abolish child labor, little progress has been made…

By Christian Parenti, Fortune, 4 February 2008
Outside the village of Sinikosson in southwestern Ivory Coast, along a trail tracing the edge of a muddy fishpond, Madi Ouedraogo sits on the ground picking up cocoa pods in one hand, hacking them open with a machete in the other and scooping the filmy white beans into plastic buckets. It is the middle of the school day, but Madi, who looks to be about 10, says his family can't afford the fees to send him to the nearest school, five miles away. "I don't like this work," he says. "I would rather do something else. But I have to do this."

Britain's child-slave trade exposed

By David Harrison, London; Telegraph, 28 January 2008
An illicit trade in children — sold by their parents, some while still babies, to criminal gangs and people traffickers — has been uncovered in Britain.